Cold
by NovemberMist
Summary: Misty saves the pokemon from Team Rocket, but at what price?


**I do not own pokemon.**

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><p><strong>Cold<strong>

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><p>The doors burst open violently, denting the wall as they bounced off. A young man stood panting heavily as the doors slipped closed again behind him. His brown eyes were wide with fear and urgency as he rushed to the front desk. His black hair was a mess, and he had hat-hair, though the only thing adorning his head at the moment was a yellow pikachu. He spoke to the pink haired nurse, who looked just like the nurse at the pokemon center. But this wasn't the pokemon center, this was the hospital. Ash wasn't here to check on a pokemon. He was here to check on his friend.<p>

The conversation between Ash and the nurse didn't last long. With a quick nod, he headed to the elevator she had pointed to, a grim look on his face, fists clenched tightly as they swung at his sides like pendulums keeping rhythm with his steps. Tears were building in his eyes as he pressed the call button and waited for the elevator. Relief flashed through his eyes briefly when the doors opened to reveal an empty elevator, and he wasted no time getting in and hitting the button for the correct floor. A tear slid down his cheek as the elevator door shut in front of him.

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><p>The door handle turned carefully, and Brock looked up from his seat next to the bed. Ash slipped in, carefully closing the door behind him and striding to the older boy's side.<p>

"How is she?" He asked, willing his voice not to crack.

"Not good, Ash. She lost a lot of blood, and she hasn't so much as stirred since..." Brock's deep voice trailed off as he looked at the unconscious girl in the hospital bed. Her bright red hair was no longer in its usually side ponytail, in fact, a good portion of it had been shaved off, stitches now holding her scalp together over her left ear. There was still traces of blood on her face, and in the hair that was still left. Her clothes were set aside, and Ash could see the blood on them as well. Ash felt a hot tear roll down his cheek and gritted his teeth, inhaling deeply through his nose, trying hard not to cry in front of Brock.

"What... What happened?" Ash asked, finally, his voice cracking under the emotional pressure.

"She... She fell out of the balloon basket. It wasn't a soft landing. She saved the pokemon. You would have been proud, she was every bit as reckless as you've been over the years." Brock replied, grimly. Ash whirled on him, angry.

"Proud..." Ash scoffed. This hardly seemed like something to be proud of. If only he had been there, she wouldn't have had to be in Team Rocket's stupid balloon saving the pokemon. _Because I would be._

Brock placed a comforting hand on the younger trainer's shoulder, but Ash shrugged it off, staring at Misty's sleeping face. The older boy sighed before sauntering out of the room, giving Ash, Misty, and Pikachu some privacy. As soon as the door clicked closed, Ash's face screwed up and tears flowed freely down his face. He grabbed Misty's hand and held it to his face, crying.

"Misty... Please wake up... Why would you... I'm supposed to be the idiot, not you." Ash cursed himself for letting the redhead get herself into such danger. Cursed himself for not being there to stop her, to be the stupid one so that she could be safe.

"Pikapi... Pikachupi..." Pikachu nuzzled against his partner's face, before jumping onto the bed with Misty. He wriggled his way under her arm, head resting on the comatose girl's chest. The two sat like that for a long time, crying. Their soft sobs accentuated by the harsh beeping of the heart monitor.

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><p>It had been days, and Ash hadn't left Misty's bedside other than to relieve himself. His face was gaunt with the lack of sleep, eyes red and tired from the near constant flow of tears. The only food he'd eaten had been what Brock and his Mom had brought and forced him to eat. Everyone was worried. If this kept up, he'd be in his own hospital bed, weak and malnourished. He didn't care. All he cared about what the ever sleeping girl in front of him.<p>

He had completely memorized her face now. Every so often he would brush a piece of hair out of her face that wasn't really there, cupping her cheek in his palm and lingering for just a moment. As horrid as he looked for lack of sleep and food, she looked beautiful. Her skin still glowed, and she still looked like she was just sleeping, like she could wake up at any moment. Ash found himself holding his breath on more than one occasion, expecting her to wake up and scream at him for watching her sleep like some kind of creep.

The moon was shining through the window now, and Ash glanced at the clock. Two o'clock. He knew he had an hour or so before the next nurse-check, and he sat himself up, pulling off her bed, gripping her hand once again.

"Hey Misty... Me, still. Again." Ash sighed. "I'm not even sure you can hear me... But... Misty, if you can, please, please wake up. I've missed you so much... I don't know what I'd do if you... if... Please wake up, Misty."

_The tears started again, and Ash buried his face in her bed. His shoulders shook with each sob that fought its way out of his throat. A hand rested on the back of his head, thumbing his hair affectionately, and Ash shot up. Misty was sitting up in bed, smiling at him._

_"Oh Ash... You haven't had even a wink of sleep all week. Stop worrying and go to bed." Her voice was clear and strong, and Ash blinked in surprise._

_"Misty... You're.. you're awake! You're okay!" the boy threw his arms around her, knocking his chair over in his exuberance. Misty was a little surprised by the sudden outburst, but returned the hug gratefully, inhaling deeply to take in the scent of the boy who never left her side._

_"I am," she laughed, petting his hair, "and I'm fine. You need to go to sleep now, Ash. You look terrible."_

_Ash felt his face flush red as he pulled back from the hug._

_"Yeah... But... Misty, I just... Don't do that again, okay? Don't be the stupid one. I'm the stupid one. I.. I couldn't bear it if something like this happened again..." His voice trailed off as he looked to the floor, the red in his face growing ever brighter._

_"Ash..." Misty started, reaching for her friend. Her eyes were full of understanding, sympathy, regret, and love. This only made Ash blush more. His ears were burning now._

_"No, really Misty. I... I love you. I couldn't stand it if... if..." the tears were coursing down his cheeks again as he gritted his teeth trying so hard to fight them back into his eyes. Misty reached for his arm and pulled him to her once again._

_"Hey... It's okay Ash. It's okay. No more crying. Go to sleep. Get some rest." She stroked his head gently as his sobs slowly receded. Ash pulled away, picking up his chair and sitting in it once more. Misty held his hand and pet his hair back, humming lightly to encourage the exhausted trainer to sleep. He was just drifting off when she leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Goodbye, Ash. I love you, too."_

**BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-**

Ash jolted upright, the long loud beep rousing him from his sleep. His eyes almost instantly locked on the pale redhead whose hand he was still clutching.

It was cold.

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><p><em><strong>End.<strong>_

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><p>AN: yyyeah, i'm evil. I kept reading these terrible attempts at tradgedy and I was like "I can do better than that.." so I did. :D


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